Dreaming Of Stars and Of Living
by Unconventional and Delusional
Summary: The 77th Hunger Games has arrived and District 12 throws two new contestants into the arena. My first Fanfic, critique is welcomed and appreciated. Main characters are both of my own creation but there is the oppinionated appearance of several known book characters. Among them, Peeta, Cinna, and Haymitch. BTW: The Revolution never happened, it was all a dream. Yay! Or Boo:
1. Prologue

Prologue: The Stars

The stars sparkled above me, just as the industrial sounds of the Seam echoed throughout the empty city streets. Apparently the miners were working a late night…In some ways I almost feel bad for them, but then again, they are the very people who prevent my own sleep. A guilty conscience can do that to you…err…me. It's funny, though, despite the noise, District 12 seems like one of the most peaceful places at night. The cries of hungry children abated until the sunrises, drunk peacekeepers delaying their harassment of citizens in order to drink their boot legged alcohol, everything simply stops and rests and no one has to worry about anything except for the demons that haunt their own dreams.

I know about demons, I've seen them in the eyes of children as they stare into the face of death, I've seen them in the eyes of President Cyrus as his teeth practically glittered red…I think anyone who lives in the present day knows about these demons for every year, annually, one might say, 1 boy and 1 girl from the twelve remaining districts must compete in order to earn the right to live. Kids between the ages of 12 and 18 look into the eyes of Capital manufactured demons every year in an event called the Hunger Games.

Tomorrow, or, today really as it is early morning, is the Reaping. Tomorrow is the day one girl and one boy will be torn from family and relations and thrown into faux luxury. The Capital devised this game after District 13 rose in rebellion seventy-eight years ago. So really, these games are essentially a seventy-seven year old grudge. They're extra mature. But I didn't say that…or think that, wouldn't want to be tried for treason or anything.

Down below me I heard a rustling of sheets and footsteps, the door creaked open and I looked over the edge of the roof to see my little brother, Ayden, rubbing his eyes.

"What are you doin'?" He asked, curiosity and sleep mixed into his small voice.

"Just looking at the stars," I replied quietly, a wistful expression on my face.

"I wanna look, too." He said , jumping and reaching his hands up as if to touch the roof edge. I sighed and clambered down, picked Ayden up onto my shoulder and pushed him up onto the roof. His small feet disappeared over the top and I pulled myself up onto to the roof, quickly swung my leg up and almost fell as Ayden tried to "help" me up. I've always been good at climbing, Ayden to the contrary, seems to have always had a serious case of gravity. Not only was he seven and two feet and eight inches, but he has always been on the chubby side. My Ma says it's only baby fat and that he'll grow out of it, frankly, I have my doubts.

Ayden slipped his hand into mine, his stubby fingers unable to squeeze the other side of my palm. I chuckled as he attempted to gain a firmer grip. Ayden giggled and finally gave up, turning his eyes up to the sky.

He pointed up at the stars with his free hand, "What's that one called?" He asked.

"That one?" I asked, pointing in the opposite direction, Ayden laughed

"No, that one!" He exclaimed, emphasizing more with his pointer fingers.

"Oh! That one!" He nodded with a smile, I smiled back and pretended that I was thinking," I think that one's called Ayden Daniels."

"That's my name!" I nodded in confirmation.

" You see, Ayden, whenever a baby is born, a star is also born." Ayden laid his head on my lap as he listened to me, a rare moment for a seven year old. "The day you were born,"

"December 18." He interrupted, I chuckled slightly and continued.

"The day you were born, December eighteenth," I swiped a hand through his soft blond, baby hair, "That star was also born. That's why you and him share the same name."

"Why do babies need stars?"

"To hold all their dreams, of course," Ayden nodded and looked up at me.

"I'm gonna have lots of dreams - my star's gonna be the biggest." He said quietly, mesmerized as the stars twinkled above us. We sat in silence, the industrial noise of the mines had stopped and only the crickets and frogs were left to communicate. I followed Ayden's hand as he pointed up again, "Which one's yours?"

"The one right next to yours," I replied, gesturing to a random star. He nodded slowly and yawned as his eyes fluttered shut. Almost immediately a soft snore escaped his mouth, he doesn't have any demons yet. I chuckled resentfully and laid back, one hand wrapped over Ayden's.

I didn't have the heart to tell him that all he could ever be was the butcher's boy…Or dead.

End of Prologue


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Indignation and the Reaping

"Where are they?" A woman yelled, the commotion was followed by a loud bang. My eyes sprung open and were immediately blinded by the sun. One of my hands felt oddly sweaty and I looked down at my fist, suddenly remembering that Ayden was up here, too. I shook him awake and his face visibly cringed. Another bang erupted from down below, this time, the door.

"Wake up, bud," I whispered, picking him up and slinging him across my back.

"Where are we?" He slurred, digging his face into my back. I smile slightly at the whininess of his voice, somehow it was almost cute.

"Hang on tight," Was all I said as I jumped down onto the ground, it was only a seven foot drop. His arms practically choked me as I landed, Ayden was definitely awake now. Setting him down, he rubbed his eyes just as he had done last night.

"There you are!" My mom blistered, practically dragging Ayden and I inside. "What did you think you were doing," She nagged in her bird-like voice, closer to a crow than a mocking jay. She dragged a brush through the tangles on my head, my dark hair unfurling from it usual sloppy but secure bun. It hung at my shoulders in a slight wave all around, and as I looked in the dusty and smudged mirror I realized that I looked like an actual girl. Reapings were really the one time of the year that I resembled one, or did a good imitation of one, but this year, my fourth year in the reaping, I looked like an actual girl. Wavy dark hair, abnormal green eyes, a slight figure, breasts that actually existed.

An hour later, my Ma had me fitted into a dress that belonged to our elderly neighbors granddaughter, whom died last year of pneumonia. It was a soft green with lace trim, an expense most can't afford, and a dark green ribbon around the waist. Even I found that the dress suited me. My Papa walked in just as Ma finished braiding a matching green ribbon into my hair. It kept the hair out of my eyes. His eyes widened nearly immediately and he walked over to me, bended down and looked me in the eyes - a peculiar expression on his face.

"Who's kid is this?" He asked with a burly laugh. I beamed and hugged him, only to feel a tear roll onto my shoulder.

"Why are you crying?"

"You look very beautiful," He replied quietly, but just loud enough for Ma to hear, "unlike the old bat next to me," I laughed as my Ma swatted at the poor man who was well into his forties. I looked over to the door, and saw kids all ready walking to the center of town, my smile dropped. What if this was the year I get picked? The thought swam circles in my head but it didn't do me any good.

My father sighed, and stood to his full height, crossing his scarred arms over his chest in a tough butcher-like manner. "Now, you don't cry, you hear me?" He told me, I appreciated the irony and nodded, "Even if your name is called, you got me?" I nodded again, taking a deep breath. "If they do-" Ma cut him off with a hard look and he sighed and patted me on the shoulder, "You'll be fine," He ended. I never did get that last piece of advice.

Ma hugged me tightly and whispered comforts into my ear, meanwhile, Ayden watched from a distance. I waved him over and squatted down, careful of the dress. Taking his hands in mine I looked straight into his blue eyes and smiled, "Everything is going to be okay," I promised, he nodded solemnly, hugging and kissing me sloppily on the forehead, I feigned disgust and threatened to kiss him, to which he responded with a giggle and a few meters between us.

I stood up and waved goodbye, joining the crowd of kids walking towards fate, for good or for worse.

My best friend, Ryden Hall, strolled up next to me, whistling some nameless song. He slung an arm around my shoulder in a casual manner, while looking at me with gray "Seam-like" eyes that made me slightly uncomfortable. It was as if he was analyzing every part of me. His face cracked into a wide grin, verging on maniacal

"You look like a girl, Daniels," Using his unimaginative nickname for me. I stomped on his foot and walked ahead of him, ripping myself from his grasp, smiling as he hobbled after me. Ryden has always been a bit of a goofball, but maybe that's why I'm friends with him, he didn't care that I acted like a boy more often than not.

I pushed my way through the crowd at a sprint, well, at as much of a sprint as my dress allowed and I heard grumbles from kids as Ryden chased after me, I slowed down so he could catch up, and he plowed into me, almost knocking me off my feet. Luckily he caught me at the last minute.

Time stopped as we looked at each other, really looked at each other for the first time. It was a dense moment, which was broken by the awkward cough of Ryden's younger brother, Kaiden. We almost eagerly scrambled away from each other and I tried to hide my blush. While Ryden smacked Kaidan in the back of the head and whispered some choice words.

We were completely silent as we walked the rest of the way, the 'moment' Ryden and I had completely forgotten - at least by me. Kaidan stood between us, shaking nervously. It was his first reaping and he was making it hard not to notice; it was always easy to pick the twelve year olds out in the crowd. I ruffled his hair comfortingly, in the same manner I ruffle my own brother's hair - and, in a way Kaidan is like another brother to me, so it wasn't all that unusual that I would repeat the action with him.

Finding myself in line for the best part of the day, I shuffled forward, trying to keep my utter excitement at the next step in tact. The thought of having blood forcibly removed from my arm _always_ makes me smile.

" Blue Daniels, sixteen," I said automatically before the overseer even asked. Kaidan followed in the same manner, he has always been a quick learner. Ryden however, smiled at the overseer.

"How are you?" he asked politely, reaching out to shake the old lady's hand. The woman looked up at him through her glasses with a glint of amusement and reluctantly shook his hand. "Crazy day, right?" She laughed at his cheesy grin and faux excitement. This conversation continued for 15 minutes in a similar manner before peace keepers forced him to move on.

"Well, that was fun," Ryden sighed, obviously satisfied with himself. I smacked him lightly, annoyed at his cheerfulness.

Just as we were forced to separate into our different sections, Ryan leaned over and pecked me lightly on the cheek, which, needless to say, left me quite flustered( Indignant might be a better adjective). Almost immediately I felt my cheeks heat up and was about to say something obnoxious and insulting but found I had all ready been pushed by the crowd into the correct section. 16 year old girls. I stared into the sixteen year old boy's "pen" and spotted a familiar head of brown hair. A cheeky smile appeared in the other section followed by an irritating wink, I glared at him as hard as I could, I glared at him with conviction - how dare he do something like _that_ at _this_ moment in time; I all ready had enough to think about. Before I could even make any choice gestures, or think about what the annoying kiss meant, Trinket's obnoxious voice interrupted my thoughts.

Effie Trinket, District 12 escort and complete nuisance. This year her hair and dress were a fiery red, maybe in honor of Katniss Everdeen - "The Girl on Fire" - who had just given birth to a baby along with her co winner and husband, Peeta Mellark. I didn't know either of them personally, but I had met Prim Everdeen before. She was nice enough but not really my style.

"Happy Hunger Games!" Her Capital accent rang loud and clear into the microphone, next to her stood the bread boy, Peeta, clean shaven and smiling, and next to him, surprisingly, was a clean-shaven Haymitch Abernanthy - Haymitch was practically a legend when it came to being drunk during the Reaping and all other public events, I respected him for that. "Welcome to the 77th Hunger Games…" Her voice trailed off as I drowned her out. A video of the bombing that occurred in District 13 played as usual and everything else was a bit 'been there, done that.'

Effie coughed for our attention and made a display of showing a piece of paper, "This year our beloved President Cyrus has made an amendment to the Reaping," She paused for effect," From this Reaping henceforth, no voluntary tributes will be allowed or acknowledged in order to preserve the integrity and unpredictability of the Games!" Her voice was disgustingly cheerful but the whimpers of twelve and thirteen year olds echoed over her, some of them depended on an older sibling stepping in for them if their name was called. Ryden looked over at me worriedly, the concern clear on his face, he had also been depending on being able to step in for Kaidan. I gave him a reassuring look, holding a pinkie up in a secret pact, despite being mad at him for completely confusing me. He nodded solemnly as Effie began to spin the names.

"Ladies first!" she called, drawing a name and opening it. Their was a slight pause in her voice, as if she was hoping for something. I sucked in a breath and closed my eyes.

"Blue Daniels!" My lungs deflated and a shocked expression froze on my face but I quickly suppressed it, and replaced it with a stoic one. Just like my Dad told me, I would not cry or show weakness. The sea of dresses parted before me and some of the girl's gasped as they realized who it was. Tomboy Blue, I'm tougher than you Blue, I prefer running and climbing over ribbons and dresses anyday, Blue. I smiled encouragingly at Ryden as he tried to push his way through the crowd of boy's. Unsuccessfully, of course. My footsteps seemed to thunder as the crowd was completely silent. A sob echoed through the crowd, a familiar one, my Ma's. I found the source and smiled the same smile I had given to Ryden. But my expression faltered as I saw Ayden on my father's shoulders with a look of pure confusion.

Shaking my head clear of thought, I ascended the stairs and shook hands with the Lobster, I decided that that was what Effie reminded me of this year, shook hands with Mr. Baker Boy( which may or may not be an oxymoron of a nickname), and shook hands with a sober Haymitch - it was the handshake I valued most. Which might say something about me.

"I must say, Miss Daniels, you are acting like you're from District 1," Effie said with surprised excitement, I smiled pleasantly.

"Maybe District 12 needs a bit of District 1 sometimes." I replied, with an attempt at a friendly smile despite my heart pounding inside my chest and resounding in my ears. Effie laughed, not pleasantly, it was more of a cackle, really.

"And now for the boys," Effie continued, suppressing a giggle of giddiness. She was acting like she was drunk, which made me wonder if Haymitch and her were playing some sort of role reversal. She winded the crank slowly and the fateful papers shuffled around. As the spinner stopped, Effie opened the hatch and dramatically selected one of the tabs. Her face dipped into the microphone and she coughed to gain everyone's attention.

"And the lucky boy is…" She paused and you could almost hear the crowd groan miserably, "Kaidan Hall!" My eyes widened in surprise and suddenly I found myself running down the stairs, as Kaidan was pushed out of the twelve year old section, like a lamb up for slaughter. He was so shocked he couldn't even take a step. A peacekeeper was about to start pushing him towards the stairs but I got to him first and grabbed his hand.

"Everything's going to be fine, Kaidan," I said in a hushed voice, as I managed to get him to walk with me towards the steps. I looked around desperately for Ryden and immediately found him as he punched a peacekeeper in the face - he can be tough when he needs too. Kaidan stood stubbornly in front of the stage - despite my pulling - and Ryden sprinted with god speed over to us, crashing into Kaidan.

"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry," He mumbled into Kaidan's ear over and over again, my eyes began to water but I refused to let tears spill. Somewhere in the confusion, I had let go of Kaiden's hand and another hand found mine I looked down in surprise, Ayden looked up at me with weepy eyes. My composure broke as I crouched in front of him. He caught a tear that fell from my face and pressed it into his shirt.

"It'll be okay," He said shakily, being braver than most seven year olds could be. I nodded.

"That's right, bud, everything will be just fine," The peacekeepers seemed to have regained their senses as two of them approached the sibling hug fest. I rubbed Ayden's shoulders, and took a deep breath, "You gotta go back to Mama and Papa, now, okay Ayden?" He nodded and smiled - obviously not understanding what my name being chosen meant, he can be a bit dense sometimes.

"I love you!" He yelled after getting about 20 feet away. I waved and mouthed the words back and blew him a kiss, which he caught and put in his pocket. A peacekeeper lifted me to my feet but I fought him off and looked for Kaidan, who was being lifted up onto a peacekeepers shoulder.

Needless to say, I kicked the man in the shins and demanded that he let Kaidan go, then proceeded to lead Kaidan up to stairs. He was crying softly but obviously keeping his emotions in check the best he could. I regained my stoic expression and cleared my throat, nodding lightly to Effie. Her eye twitched in confusion, which almost made me laugh. I looked up and noticed that on the screen they were replaying Ayden and I talking on the large screen that was hanging from the Mayor's house, his voice echoed around the square and I couldn't help but grin. That's Ayden for you, center of a attention no matter what situation.

"Well, what an eventful Reaping," Effie said in a voice somewhere between confusion, skeptisicm, and doubt. Kaidan and I were ushered off stage before the situation could escalate further. We had probably broken more Reaping protocols today than in the entire history of the Hunger Games.

They had me placed in a cold white room fit with a bed and two chairs. I knew they would have friends and family visit for the next hour but I felt myself anxiously waiting for them to simply pull me out to the train without a single goodbye. I wouldn't be surprised if the capital was mad at us for disrespecting protocol.

I waited in that room for ten eternal minutes before Ayden was sent in. His eyes were puffy but he wasn't crying.

"Momma, says you're going away," He said, rubbing his hands together nervously and shuffling back and forth. I simply ruffled his hair and gave a sorry attempt at a smile.

"Yep," I sighed regretfully. He looked up at me with eyes filled with hope and all I could do was hope that I didn't start sobbing right then and there.

"Are you coming home?" I nodded and covered my mouth to stifle and gasp. The air suddenly felt thinner and my lungs began to spasm. I coughed and coughed helplessly as my asthma set in. Ayden ran out of the room and my Ma came running with a paper bag. I breathed into it as slowly as possible and soon my breath was back to normal. My Ma rubbed a hand on my back in circles and I nodded thanks.

She hugged me to her chest like she used to when I was younger and we simply sat there on the bed in silence. Taking comfort in each others presence. Me and my Ma have never had the greatest relationship and we've ever had much to say to each other but no one can deny that we value each other. She planted a kiss on the top of my head and we rocked back and forth to an unspoken song.

The peacekeepers escorted her out two minutes later and I waved goodbye, for the last time, I was sure.

Finally, my Papa came in, blubbering like a fool and I laughed to the point of tears at his emotional display. He laughed along with me until we both were out of breath and are stomachs were in knots. At which point he came up behind me and put me in a headlock, skillfully demonstrating how to knock someone out in ten seconds.

I figured that it would be a useful skill, all things considered.

There was a knock on the door and Pa's face turned serious and he laid his scarred hands on my shoulders. I never noticed the scars before, tens upon hundreds knife accidents all so me, Ma, and Ayden could survive. His forehead pressed against mine and he began to say a whole bunch of words that didn't make much sense.

"You're all grown up now, Blue. And you have to look out for yourself, but don't let those Capital freaks turn you into somethin' you're not, you got me? You don't kill anyone unless you need too. And remember the one thing that keeps us human; compassion." I nodded in response even thought I didn't understand the significance of his words and he kissed my forehead before being escorted out.

I waited for forty five more minutes in that cold room. And all I could think of was the scar's on my Pa's arms and the fact that I probably will never get to see Ayden lose his supposed baby fat.

And that Ryden never came through that door.

End of Chapter 1


End file.
